york00orns

JOHN WYCLIFFE. 177
appeared before the bishops at l>ambeth. It was tlie
signal for another tumult. On this occasion " he
owed to the popularity of his cause the protection
which he had before so strangely obtained by the
unpopularity of his patron." ^ Nothing was done in
the way of condemnation. He was simply dismissed
with an injunction to refrain from publishing his
opinions. The king Iiad died before the arrival of
these bulls, and on the accession of the youthful
Richard II. John of Gaunt ceased to exercise open
'influence at court or council.
Dr. Shirley considers that Wycliffe's literary life may
be divided into three periods; the first extending to the
year 1366 or 1367, or three or four years later than
his doctor's degree ;
the second to the great schism of
the west, and the tliird to the close of his life.^
The first of these periods includes all his logical,
physical, and philosophical works. In the second he
appears as a reformer. The great schism which took
place after the death of Gregory XI. in 1378 diverted
attention from tlie internal affairs of the English
church, and left Wycliffe free for his work. In the
first instance he did not enter the lists against the
doctrines so much as against the corruptions of the
Church of Rome, and at this period he gave a
practical form to his earnest endeavours to promote
a real improvement in the church of his own country.
This was by founding what was really a new order,
the "simple priests" whose homely attire, simplicity
'
"Fasciculi Zizaniorum " (ed. Shirley), p. xxxii.
^ Ibitl. p. xxxix.
N